- Introduction: From Saint-Tropez To Sylt, And Beyond!
- Review: The Carlyle New York, A Rosewood Hotel
- Review: Emirates Lounge New York (JFK)
- Review: Emirates A380 First Class (JFK-MXP)
- Review: Hotel Martinez Cannes, Hyatt Unbound Collection
- Review: Airelles Saint-Tropez, Chateau De La Messardiere
- Review: The Library Lounge Nice Airport (NCE)
- Review: SWISS A320 Business Class (NCE-ZRH)
- Review: Hyatt Regency Zurich Airport The Circle
- Review: SWISS Alpine Lounge Zurich Airport (ZRH)
- Review: Sylt Airport Lounge (GWT)
- Review: Lufthansa CityLine E190 Business Class (GWT-FRA)
- Taking One Of Lufthansa’s Shortest Flights (118 Miles)
- Our Lufthansa Delayed Bag Experience
- Review: The Wellem Dusseldorf, Hyatt Unbound Collection
- Review: Hugo Junkers Lounge Dusseldorf Airport (DUS)
- Review: Condor A321 Business Class (DUS-ATH)
- Review: King George Athens, Marriott Luxury Collection
- Review: Hotel Grande Bretagne Athens, Marriott Luxury Collection
- Review: Goldair Lounge Athens Airport (ATH)
- Review: airBaltic Airbus A220 (SAS Wet Lease)
- Review: Grand Hotel Stockholm, Sweden
- Review: Amex Restaurant Stockholm Arlanda Airport (ARN)
- Review: New Finnair Business Class A330 (ARN-JFK)
We had a one night layover in Zurich enroute from Nice to Sylt. Rather than trekking into the city, we decided to just spend the night near the airport. Specifically, we decided to check out the 255-room Hyatt Regency Zurich Airport The Circle, which opened in 2021.
While airport hotels are usually nothing to get too excited about, I’m happy to report that this is a phenomenal airport hotel, one of my favorites ever. Perhaps the only airport hotel I like more is the Grand Hyatt San Francisco Airport, thanks to the amazing views it affords.
In this post:
Booking the Hyatt Regency Zurich Airport
The Hyatt Regency Zurich Airport is a Category 5 World of Hyatt property, meaning that a standard room free night redemption costs 17,000-23,000 points per night. Personally I value World of Hyatt points at 1.5 cents each, just as a point of reference.
Even if you’re not a Hyatt loyalist, earning World of Hyatt points can be pretty easy. In addition to being able to earn World of Hyatt points with the World of Hyatt Credit Card (review) and World of Hyatt Business Credit Card (review), you can also transfer over points from Chase Ultimate Rewards.
However, I decided to pay cash for our stay. The rate for our stay was ~250 CHF (~$260). While that’s steep for an airport hotel, that seemed like a better deal than redeeming points, and for that matter Switzerland isn’t cheap.
Hyatt Regency Zurich Airport location
I’ll go out of my way to choose an airport hotel that doesn’t require a shuttle, given how unreliably they often run. The Hyatt Regency Zurich Airport is located in The Circle, which is a complex connected directly to the airport, so it can be reached by foot.
The Circle is essentially a huge new complex that has been built next to the airport, featuring all kinds of retail, office space, etc. It’s similar to how Frankfurt Airport has The Squaire.
Accessing The Circle from the arrivals area is pretty easy. Just exit baggage claim and walk across the street, as there’s plenty of signage in the direction of The Circle.
Soon enough you’ll find yourself in a pretty nifty tunnel that goes straight to The Circle.
The Circle complex is such a pleasant surprise, as it feels like a high-end outdoor shopping mall. It has everything from car showrooms, to bakeries, to pharmacies, to jewelers.
When you’re in The Circle just hang right, and you’ll see the entrance to the Hyatt Regency.
When you enter the hotel from this side, you have to either take an elevator or staircase up a level to the lobby.
Note that if you’re arriving by car and not coming from the airport, there’s a separate way to enter from the other side of the airport, which lets off right at the lobby (rather than having to go up a level).
Hyatt Regency Zurich Airport lobby & check-in
The Hyatt Regency Zurich Airport has a large lobby with plenty of comfortable seating. There’s also a fireplace, though it wasn’t turned on when we visited, presumably because it was too warm for that in summer.
Our check-in experience was great. The associate checking us in thanked me for being a Globalist member, and said we had been upgraded to an executive suite.
She also informed us that while the Regency Club was open, there wasn’t any breakfast or evening happy hour service there. Rather breakfast and evening drinks were served in the hotel’s restaurant, while the lounge was just open as a place to hang out or to grab a coffee or soft drink.
Hyatt Regency Zurich Airport executive suite
We were assigned room 414, an executive suite on the fourth floor. For context, the hotel has 10 floors, and the lobby is on the second floor. The hotel’s hallways can be a bit confusing, as it’s not a simple wing in each direction of the elevators. We found ourselves constantly referencing the signage, and at least that was good.
Our executive suite was marketed as being 43 square meters (462 square feet), and frankly I’m a bit confused, because the room was definitely bigger than that. I feel like a lot of hotels exaggerate square footage or include outdoor space in calculations, but in this case I’m pretty confident the room was at least 600 square feet.
Anyway, this suite was flawless, and was perhaps one of the most practically designed rooms I’ve ever stayed in. With so many hotel rooms I wonder if the person designing them has ever stayed in a hotel, but this room was very well thought out.
The suite had a large living room just inside the entrance. This included a dining table with three chairs, and a living room with an “L” shaped couch, a chair, and a stool. There was also a wall mounted TV.
Waiting on the living room table was a welcome amenity consisting of a bottle of water and some sweets, plus a handwritten card.
Back by the entrance was a luggage rack, a closet, and the minibar.
The minibar had a Nespresso coffee machine, a kettle, bottled water, and a variety of drinks for purchase.
Also by the entrance was a half bath, with a toilet and sink.
There was a sliding door separating the living room from the bedroom. The bedroom had a comfortable king size bed, though personally I wish the pillows would have been a bit bigger (I realize many Europeans feel differently).
In the hall next to the bedroom was another luggage storage rack.
Then there was a bathroom, featuring a sink with a large mirror, a huge walk-in shower, a bathtub, and a toilet.
Toiletries were from Pharmacopia, as is brand standard for Hyatt Regency.
Really the only downside to the room was the view, as it looked at an inner courtyard. On the plus side, that meant there wasn’t much noise. However, there was nothing to look at, and it also restricted the amount of natural light in the room.
All-in-all, what an incredible suite, especially for an airport hotel! There was also Wi-Fi in the room, which was fast and free.
Hyatt Regency Zurich Airport club lounge
The Hyatt Regency Zurich Airport’s Regency Club is located on the ninth floor, and is open daily from 6:30AM until 10PM. As mentioned above, the lounge isn’t currently offering breakfast or evening cocktails, but rather that’s served in the restaurant.
I appreciate that the lounge remains open throughout the day, as it’s a great place from which to work, or to grab a soft drink, coffee, or water.
The Regency Club had plenty of seating, whether you preferred a couch, a booth, a dining table, or a conference table. There was also a terrace, but it seemed to be closed during our visit.
Hyatt Regency Zurich Airport Restaurant Babel dinner
Restaurant Babel is the hotel’s all-day dining restaurant, and it’s located right next to the lobby. The restaurant had decor that was nicer than what you’d typically find at an airport hotel, and there was even outdoor seating.
While Regency Club cocktails and snacks are served here nightly from 6PM until 8PM, unfortunately we landed too late to take advantage of that. Since we were hungry, we decided to have dinner at the restaurant. Babel is a Middle Eastern restaurant, which we’re huge fans of, and you can find the menu here.
At the start of the meal we were offered some delicious bread, dips, and veggies.
We ordered four things to share, including the spiced carrots, falafel, fattoush salad, and eggplant with pomegranate. Yum, yum, yum, and yum.
Hyatt Regency Zurich Airport breakfast
Breakfast at the Hyatt Regency is also served at Babel. It’s available daily from 6:30AM until 10AM (until 11AM on weekends). Breakfast consisted primarily of a solid buffet, which had juice, pastries, veggies, cold cuts, a variety of yogurt, cereal, bread, and several hot options.
In addition to that, there was a menu you could also order off of at no extra cost, to supplement the buffet. You could order eggs (basically) any style, shakshuka, almond waffles, peanut butter pancakes, cinnamon french toast, etc.
Shakshuka is one of my favorite breakfast dishes, so I of course ordered that, along with a side of halloumi. Yum. That more than satisfied me, and I didn’t need anything from the buffet.
Hyatt Regency Zurich Airport 24/7 market
If you’re just looking to grab a snack or drink to-go, the Hyatt Regency has a 24/7 market, located right next to the lobby. We didn’t buy anything here, but some might find this to be useful.
Hyatt Regency Zurich Airport gym & spa
The Hyatt Regency has a gym and spa on the eighth floor. The gym was excellent, with plenty of modern cardio and weight equipment.
There was also a spa area with a sauna, though it didn’t look like any treatments were being offered. Still, many will appreciate the sauna.
Hyatt Regency Zurich Airport park
It’s easy to feel pretty cooped up when staying at an airport hotel. After all, there often aren’t nice areas nearby to walk to, and terminal walking has limited appeal (to most).
That’s why it’s noteworthy that The Circle has a park right behind it, which is a great place to get some steps in. It was gorgeous in Zurich on our full day there, so we took the opportunity to go on a nice walk.
It’s pretty impressive how much effort went into this park, as there’s even a funicular leading to the top, as well as a water display.
Bottom line
The Hyatt Regency Zurich Airport is an excellent airport hotel, and I’d gladly return in a heartbeat. The hotel has an unbeatable location, luxurious rooms, a great restaurant (for both breakfast and dinner), friendly service, great elite recongition, and nice nearby walking and shopping opportunities. What more can you ask for?
The Circle is also probably the coolest airport development I’ve seen in Europe (of course it can’t compete with The Jewel at Singapore Changi, but Singapore is always on a different level).
If you’ve stayed at the Hyatt Regency Zurich Airport, what was your experience like?
We just stayed at the Hyatt Place at ZUR (also at the Circle) a couple of weeks ago--we also had only one night as a layover and so I picked the lower points option. It was literally the nicest Hyatt Place we have ever stayed in, the Globalist breakfast looked exactly the same as what you had at the HR. No option for a suite upgrade, but for a one night stopover, just thought I'd throw this info in!
Sorry but cannot agree with your accolades of this Hyatt Airport hotel in Zurich.
Six months ago we stayed, and the lounge was not open. It looks to be a nice space if it was open and they had something more than drinks.
Our room was brand new, a suite on the 8th floor, but was not functional as yours is described.
The lighting fixtures on the wall were too small to...
Sorry but cannot agree with your accolades of this Hyatt Airport hotel in Zurich.
Six months ago we stayed, and the lounge was not open. It looks to be a nice space if it was open and they had something more than drinks.
Our room was brand new, a suite on the 8th floor, but was not functional as yours is described.
The lighting fixtures on the wall were too small to read and many all bunched together.
Our bathroom shower looks to be the same as yours. The water ran out all over the floor, we asked for extra towels to build a damn by the shower door.
The curtains were automatic but did not close properly and we had to adjust them every time.
A negative to rolling luggage, the outside mall area one must go thru to get to the Hyatt has bevelled rough stones, which are vicious on luggage wheels. A Flat gangway or flat area for rolling luggage would have been more smart there.
Before Christmas time, during busy December, the lobby atmosphere was soulless. It was boring.
We planned to stay a week in Zurich, but checked out the next day to another hotel.
The other hotel, the lounge was open with full food and drinks, a Merry type of atmosphere lobby and lounge.
Stayed here a few times since opening. I used to stay at the Radisson in the past, but the Hyatt Regency is much better. While at this hotel there are no Hyatt Prive amenities, it can be worthwhile to book throug a Hyatt Prive TA. He can VIP your stay. Did it successfully already.
This looks great (other than the view), but comparing to the Category 1, Skytrax world second best airport hotel (I know…), Hyatt Regency SZX, I think that represents way better value, it comes with a pool, a small terrace park where you can enjoy the breeze and runway view, and all the suites come with runway view and great noise insulation.
Incheon Grand Hyatt and HK airport Marriott are still better by a good margin and the original Langham beijing airport was really nice.
Yea but then you’re supporting the nut rage exec from the KAL group.
Why didn't you stay at the Hyatt Place that is also in the Circle, is a Cat 4 so you can use it with the Room Certificate, which is exactly what we did when we stayed there in December - right as it opened.
I don't think either are good if you have a car, we ended up parking in the Circle Car Park, although it was clearly signed where the best place to park if you were staying at the Regency, it took me a couple of tries to find the closest elevator for Hyatt Place
Maybe because a full service HR is a nicer/more comfortable property, with better benefits, than a regular HP? Not hard to figure out. There are far better options out there to use Cat 4 certs on too than an HP.
I was under the naïve impression that was still a place that talked about ways to get value from points/cards, not just a Luxury Travel Blog and nothing else. Indeed there are far better travel options - but not everyone goes out their way just to burn a certificate, especially when its close to expiring.
Lucky, if he 1) had an expiring cert that 2) he couldn't find better value for, could have likely redeemed at an HP. Would have been a fairly boring post. HPs are HPs, not sure what you are looking for.
Instead, we learned about an extra nice HR that may be one of the better airport properties out there. Methinks this is a bit more interesting for his readership.
I am sure Ben can speak for himself, should he so choose.
But did you read my entire comment? I have stayed at this location. Have you? its certainly not like any other Hyatt Place in the US.
I would rather spend extended time/money/points on properties non-airport luxury properties. again in my naïve opinion -
Fun Factv - Hyatt Place ZRH is the only Cat 4. properly in Switzerland, the only other option...
I am sure Ben can speak for himself, should he so choose.
But did you read my entire comment? I have stayed at this location. Have you? its certainly not like any other Hyatt Place in the US.
I would rather spend extended time/money/points on properties non-airport luxury properties. again in my naïve opinion -
Fun Factv - Hyatt Place ZRH is the only Cat 4. properly in Switzerland, the only other option to burn your Chase Card Cert. in CH is a SLH "Wellness Hotel" in the middle of no-where
But heck what do I know?
We can agree to disagree. Peace Out.
So it’s like a HP, slightly nicer, that goes for about $200 a night. Yeah, savvy travelers can do a lot better than that for a Cat 4 FNA.
Looks like the Forester in Chicago. Different but not special.
There is a reason why limited service hotels don’t get much in the way of reviews on blogs…
I stayed at the HP at the Circle. It is an amazing hotel and really a step above most HRs in the US. We had a park view room.
WAIT! they put a place for you to put your luggage at the entrance. And it even looks nice. CRAZY. You're right this seems so simple but it looks awesome. Will try it next time.
I just finished a stay at the Sheraton Frankfurt Airport, and this looks miles (or kilometers) nicer with the park so close.
Also, do you save all your welcome notes hotels write you? They would be cool mementos to amass over the years.
Stayed at the Circle, and was given the same type of Suite, I think our room might be 614, since the view is almost the same.
Agree with most of the points. Breakfast is good - best french toast ever, not an exaggeration. They use brioche bread and the way they make it caramelized, we'd be back just for that! The park, not only that it has reflection pool and funicular, it has wooded areas...
Stayed at the Circle, and was given the same type of Suite, I think our room might be 614, since the view is almost the same.
Agree with most of the points. Breakfast is good - best french toast ever, not an exaggeration. They use brioche bread and the way they make it caramelized, we'd be back just for that! The park, not only that it has reflection pool and funicular, it has wooded areas that make you feel like you are walking in a forest.
The room size is big, lots and lots of space. The bathroom is excellent, and the Laufen-made smart toilet/bidets are nice.
I do challenge the notion that it is most practically designed because it is not. There is no working desk in the room, instead they choose to put dining table in the corner. I think work desk with USB and outlets are way more practical. The coffee table or coffee stone block. I think that's the a pretty feature but not very convenient at all. The closet is designed for super tall people. I am 6' 1" and the Mrs is 5' 7" and both hanger areas felt too tall even for us.
The only other blemish was when we did laundry service, the clothing items came back in hangers with no plastic sleeves or any kind of sleeves at all so the clothes stay out in the open ~ never seen any hotel does that ever, except here.
It is overall still a tremendous value, especially for Globalist members. Even if one does not have Globalist status, the airport complex is a short walk away with too many dining options to choose from. The location is not a bother at all, with train to Zurich city proper every 10 minutes, not to mention trams and buses. Solid hotel, and the best Hyatt Regency we've stayed at, hands down.